Dear Senator Kennedy and Rep. Miller,

I write to with great thanks that you are taking a lead at the private student loan industry.   As a working class 18 year old,  I entered college knowing that I would take student loans.  It wasn't option, and when getting a college education was literally saving my life from being underemployed,   I had to embrace that debt burden.  I didn't quite understand the complexity of interest, nor did I understand the difference between Stafford Loans, Perkins Loans, or Private Loans.    Since I was the first person in my family to attend college,  I didn't have the guidance that I can now provide   ( and so much to his weekly chargrim) to my high school aged cousin.  It sadden my Mom that she wasn't able to afford college, and for some reason,   the student aid office believed that a single parent making less than $40,000 a year could afford to pay $10,000 or $20,000 a year for college.

That said, as a freshman, I signed away at the dotted lines- more or less signing my life away to Sallie Mae.   My college did not inform that there we more than one option. I didn't know that I could go to other banks and try to compete for better deals.  I thought that the "Mae '   meant that it was similar to Fannie Mae and that they were providing a public service.  My college aid office failed to inform that I should try to get the maximum Pell or Stafford loans before I took out private loans.  Sallie Mae was my gatekeeper to college.    If I would have been offered a seminar on student loans that was impartial,   I would have listened to every word and try to figure it all out.  But, I trusted the people who were meant to help me. That was back in 199-.

Now that I am young professional- I am surrounded by peers who came from middle and upper class families who are unburned  by student loans.  While I am paying, most of the time- some months its hard to pay-  $1000/ month on student loan, they are saving for their homes,   traveling, and working at lesser paying jobs that are super important to society.  If I didn't have student loans,   I would have moved to New  Orleans in 2005 to volunteer indefinetly to rebuild New Orleans.  But, I have to work every single day to pay for a college eductation- that with interest- will cost more almost twice as much than my peers from upper class families pay for college.

I want to comment on collections for a second.  Sallie Mae will call me on my cell phone every five minutes for hours at a time.   They call my reference three or four times a day.  They "loose" my information just so that contact other people to find me.   I refused to give them my work information.   When I  hear from them, I feel like nothing matters- that I will never be able to own my home, that I will never to able to save for retirement,   my whole life existsts to pay back student loans.

I am heartened to hear that many colleges are now offering free education to students who come from families with less $60,000 a year income.   I am happy for them  but wish that the schools would have smartened up before I entered college.

Please take Sallie Mae to task for taking advantage of vulnerable young adults. I just wanted to fulfill the dreams instilled in me by my hard working Mom.   I just wanted what middle and upper class children take for granted- an unlimited future.

Also,  I have gotten several requests to consolidate my federal loans from private loan companies.    Can I file a complaint anywhere?   Who had the right to let anyone know that I had student loans?

Thank you so much for your work.   I hope that you can find away to help future students since no one can really help me.

I will always remember the words spoken to me in high school by a Holocaust survivor and  scholar- "Don't let democracy undue democracy."  I took these words to mean that we need to be careful when speach can seek to limit the public sphere of others.   For example, a lot of the people who decry muliticulturalism and reduce the movement to being "politically correct" are really using their words to limit and prevent people of color from being inolved in this country.  The are using free speech to limit free speech.
What does this have to do with Imus?

I do not like him.  I hate the tone of these angry white men on the airways.  I do not think that any woman- even a sex worker- should be called a "ho", nor should the term "nappy hair" be used by a white man in a deragatory manner.  I do not like that his speech is used to limit and intimidate others.

But,  what role should corporations have towards who is on the airways?  I mean, should one corporation like CBS- accountable to add revenue- not the public-  be able to decide what programs are on the airways? Then, do they get to decide who is fired?  Sure, we like that Imus was fired-  but lest you forget the Dixie Chicks.  There unpopular words got them axed from radio shows around the country.

I'm just saying that this media thingy is more complicated and really, no one won with Imus- just a lot of loosers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N74zUEXTj TE

Just in case you all forget,  Medicare Part D is a killer.  Two weeks ago, my grandmother's Medicare Prescription program refused to cover her heart medication and put her on a generic.  But, as her doctor explained in the appeal,  the generic does not work for her.  Now, she is on a heart monitor and might die because she can't afford to pay out of pocket for her medication.  I am ashamed to be an American right now and am ashamed that any Democrat voted for this awful bill.   If she dies, can anyone be charged with murder?

I am so disappointed at NOW!

++ New
12:30 p.m. - News conference
SPONSOR: The National Organization for Women Political Action Committee (NOW PAC)
TOPIC/SUBJECT: holds a news conference to make a major announcement regarding the 2008 election.
PARTICIPANTS: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.; NOW PAC Chair Kim Gandy; NOW PAC officers and members; and women's rights activists
DATE: March 28, 2007
LOCATION: Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, 144 Constitution Avenue NE, Washington, D.C.
CONTACT: Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669 ext. 116 or 202-641-1906